Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches
Treating Addictions & Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

People being treated at BHOP come from every walk of life. Unfortunately, some of them have experienced the trauma of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse.

Some of the occupations represented among our patient population are likely to have experienced traumatic events. These occupations are likely to have been first responders including Flight Attendants, Corrections Officers, Police Officers, and Firefighters. BHOP’s patient population also includes veterans of recent wars.

When PTSD is a co-occurring disorder it can lead to major distress. Mood altering substances are sometimes abused to alleviate the distress that accompanies PTSD. When this happens addictions are developed or escalated. Symptoms of PTSD include:

• The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in images, thoughts, and dreams
• Reminders of the event(s) such as thoughts, feelings, activities, places, and people are consistently avoided
• Persistent arousal can cause sleep disturbances, irritability, anger, and difficulty concentrating
• Distress and/or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning

A very thorough assessment process helps us to identify co-occurring disorders such as PTSD. Information provided by referral sources and significant others is very valuable and is obtained with the patient’s permission. The assessment process conducted at BHOP includes:

• clinical interviews
• psychiatric and medical evaluations
• battery of psychological measurements

When the need is indicated, the PTSD Track is recommended for the patient. It is an intensive two week experience embedded in the course of treatment at BHOP. The experience includes:

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): Certified therapists on staff work on a one to one basis with patients using this technique for the reprocessing of traumatic events including, but not limited to, emotional, physical, sexual abuse and other psychologically traumatic events. This technology involves having a therapist guide a patient through past experiences while guiding their eye movements. It allows the experiences to be processed in areas of the brain where they can be resolved. Patients in the PTSD Track receive two EMDR sessions.

Light/Sound Neurotherapy: EMDR is supplemented with Light Sound Therapy. This innovative technology supplements the impact of EMDR by having patients experience simultaneous light and sound stimulation with audio coaching. Patients in the PTSD Track receive six sessions of Light Sound Therapy.

Psychodrama Group Therapy: This group assists clients in processing unresolved trauma experiences through active engagement to increase their physical and emotional well being and develop new coping skills. Experiential approaches such as sociometry, role-play and other creative and action methods are utilized to facilitate personal growth on cognitive, affective, and behavioral levels.

We know it works!
BHOP is consistently measuring the effectiveness of our treatment programs. The graph below illustrates the effectiveness of LSN in addressing co-morbid PTSD among our patients. The data below reflects pre and post test scores of patients involved in a two week, six session application of LSN. The tests administered were the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), a trait-based psychometric measurement, and the Post Traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, a test designed to measure symptom severity as it relates to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Also note the improvement in major depressive symptoms as shown through post MCMI testing in our patient group. Please go to www.bhpalmbeach.com for more information on Behavioral Health’s research and assessment activities.

NOTE: For more information on EMDR go to www.EMDR.org. For more information on Light/Sound Therapy go to www.Neuro-Advantage.com

BHOP is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and licensed by the State of Florida.